Music Alum Discusses the Struggles of Graduate School

Jeremiah Davenport came to Cleveland to study musicology but has danced into the spotlight as a drag performer who combines artistry with a deep sense of history.

This isn’t just any run-of-the-mill drag night for the queen known to many as Lady J Martinez O’Neal. For one, it’s June’s Pride in the CLE, and the Gordon Square Arts District gay bar is packed for “Somequeer Over The Rainbow,” a two-hour spectacle of the city’s star-studded cast of female impersonators, Xena-like warrior princesses and “Call Me Maybe” lip-syncs. It’s also a seminal performance for its headliner, Lady J, who just a month earlier earned a title that makes her among the first in the nation: a drag performer with a doctoral degree in musicology with a focus on drag culture.